Night Flying Espeonfree
by DarkBlackRayquaza
Summary: The story of Umbreonlike Espeon and an Espeonlike Umbreon journeying to rescue their family. Maybe life would be easier if the Espeon hadn't have fallen into depression. Can she unlock the power hidden inside despite her growing selfhatred?
1. Chapter 1: The Evolution Stand

Chapter 1: The Evolution Stand

The very first thing I heard on that particular morning was a scream of ecstatic joy. After opening my small Eevee eyes I saw exactly what I had been expecting. My sister – or one of them, I should say – was running around the hole we called home, laughing like mad.

I giggled softly. Standard Niss behavior.

Our five other siblings didn't look so amused. They rubbed their eyes and mumbled sleepily. All five of us, as you would expect, were Eevee.

Our mother walked in from her side of the hole.

"Niss, would you please keep it down?" She yawned, scratching one of her orange Flareon ears.

Our Vaporeon father walked in behind her and laughed. "Oh, she's probably just excited. It's not every day that a young Eevee gets to evolve!"

The Evolution Stand. How could I have forgotten? I stood up and yawned softly. Niss started jumping around even more.

"Can we go now", she begged. "Please?"

"It's so early", Mom said, yawning.

"Oh, come on", Dad said with a chuckle. "Why not?"

All seven of us, our tiredness forgotten, raced out of the hole. I scrambled out to find myself standing in soft dew covered grass. The morning sun shone on our brown fur as we eagerly awaited what very well might change our lives.

Well, it certainly did. Just not in the way we expected.

A few seconds later, our parents emerged from the hole.

Dad clapped his blue paws together. "Well, let's get going!"

We all cheered and started off with the sun on our backs.

We were a very tight-knit family. Even though there were so many of us we all felt like one. We never fought and sibling rivalry was like a myth.

All of us lived far away from humans. None of us had even seen a real life human before.

We lived in the unexplored outer regions of Kanto. Here it was custom for an Eevee to go to The Evolution Stand exactly one week after his or her birthday.

Well, this happened to be that day.

As odd as it may seem, I never really gave life much deep thought. I always considered life to be one big playground. My siblings and I would spend our days running around the beautiful fields and playing with one another.

As our family walked the long way it took to get to The Evolution Stand, I thought evolution was going to be another fun thing. Of course we'd be different, but we'd still live happily together forever.

I don't think I've ever been so wrong before in my life.

Finally, Dad pointed to a shack in the distance and said "There!"

All seven of us Eevee looked in the direction he was pointing.

"That's it?" I swung my tail doubtfully. "It doesn't look like much to me."

"Yes, Free, that's it", Mom said. "Just wait."

All of us walked up to it. It was small, old looking, and covered with gaudy yellow paint. Dad walked up to the door and knocked on it softly.

No answer

Every Eevee looked disappointed but Niss, who was still jumping around in the way only she could.

However, the ugly yellow door eventually swung open. A large orange Electric-Type rodent – a Raichu – stood in the doorway and smiled.

"Why, what a nice bunch we have here now! Come in! Please come in! There's no reason to be shy!"

Our parents and the Raichu disappeared into the shack. The rest of us followed hesitantly.

The shack was small and dark except for a few small candles on the floor.

The Raichu picked up a torch and handed it to Mom. "If you don't mind…"

Mom smiled and blasted a few weak flames onto the torch, which caught fire instantly.

The Raichu took the torch back. "It's always nice to have a Fire-Type around", he said with a wink. "You can call me Joe, by the way. This place isn't really a stand, but oh well."

Joe pulled out a long, skinny box and clicked it open. Inside were all the evolution stones and four more that I've never seen before.

"These are the everlasting element stones", Joe explained. "They are the only ones in existence. Please, choose your evolution."

Niss stepped up first. "Me! Me! Oh, please pick me!"

Joe nodded and held the box out to her.

"Well", Niss said, "I want to be an Umbreon."

All of us Eevee looked at each other in disbelief. An Umbreon? Her?

"Well", Joe said, "I'd say you look more like an Espeon to me… oh well, it's your choice. Take the black stone."

Niss excitedly scooped up a stone that was as black as night. The only thing on the stone that wasn't black was a yellow crescent moon shape.

Suddenly, Niss became engulfed in a strange white glow. The glow became bigger until it finally faded away. In her place was a black dog-like creature with yellow rings. She blinked and smiled. "Yes! Yes," she yelled, jumping around frantically. "I'm an Umbreon!"

I decided to go last. I waited as all of my other siblings stepped up, grabbed a stone, and evolved.

There was indeed something strange about the place in which we lived. Usually female Eevee were very rare and hard to come by. Gender ratios were 50/50 here. Eevee and the eons were only found wild here. The only Eevee found in human inhabited areas were ones that wanted trainers. They usually put themselves into empty Pokeballs left in random places such as mansions.

There were also rumors and legends flying about concerning the everlasting stones. I remembered a tale I heard when I was little that I never believed a word of. Supposedly some Umbreon had magical powers or something… it was hard to remember after so long…

"Free, you're up next."

I snapped back to reality. It's not like any Pokemon could have "magical" powers. We had powers certain humans regarded as magic, but they really weren't. I stepped up to the box. Then I realized that I had absolutely no idea which evolution to pick. I stood there stupidly for a few seconds.

Then I remembered something.

When I was only five, I wandered too deep into a forest alone. A group of wild Victreebel trapped me and intended to turn me into a meal. I still remember vividly that vine wrapped around me so tight that I could scarcely breathe, and then being pulled into that ugly gaping mouth…

Then she came.

A beautiful young Espeon had come and rescued me.

I always admired the beauty and grace of the sun Pokemon. And now that elegance would be mine.

I grabbed a light purple stone in my brown Eevee paws.

Suddenly, I was blinded by a white light. I dropped the stone. I heard it fall into the box, but all I could see was light.

I suddenly started to grow bigger and longer. My fluffy tail grew long and slim and split at the tip. Something was wrong, though, and I could feel it.

The glow faded, and everything around me returned to normal.

I glanced down at my paws. They were no longer brown, they were purple.

I looked around at my siblings and realized all seven of us were a different eon.

Reaching up with my paw, I felt around for the red jewel that was usually on the forehead of Espeon.

It wasn't there.

I realized that I had retractable claws.

The big gobs of fur under my ears were shorter and messier than they should've been.

Joe looked at me solemnly. "I was afraid of this…"

"What does it mean," asked Mom in a worried voice.

"I'm not sure… I knew she should've been an Umbreon. Without the jewel, she can't absorb energy from the sun."

"It's alright", I said. "I don't mind."

Joe's happy expression returned. "Okay then. It's name changing time!"

After an Eevee evolves, he or she changes his or her name in accordance to her new form. All of us combined our old names with our new species. Niss became Umbreoniss, and I became Espeonfree.

Joe clapped his paws together and smiled. "Off you go, then! Enjoy your new forms!"

All of us waved goodbye and walked outside. The yellow door shut behind us.

Suddenly, we heard laughter.

Human laughter.


	2. Chapter 2: Disaster

All of us turned around quickly in surprise and gasped. Behind us, in the sky, was a large human aircraft of sorts! It was gray and had several small windows lining it that reflected the sunlight. On top of this aircraft stood two humans, a man and a woman. Each was holding a device I had only seen before in books; a megaphone.

The man held the device up to his mouth and started talking into it.

"This is great. This must be the spot we've heard about. Look at all of those Eevee evolutions down there!"

The woman nodded. "We'll study them and find out exactly how those little rarities evolve." She smiled a wicked smile.

The man took out a small, square device – a remote control – and pressed a button on it. Instantly, two long guns emerged from the side of the aircraft and dangerous-looking blue orbs fired straight at us.

"Run!" our mother cried frantically, and none of us hesitated for a moment. All of us went scrambling into different directions. Umbreoniss skipped and laughed like the overly optimistic Pokemon she was. I ran straight with my eyes shut tight, hearing and feeling the effects of the explosions going on all around me.

Then I heard a particularly big explosion and a cry of pain that was cut short.

I opened my eyes and started in the direction of the noise. Had one of my siblings been hurt?

It was worse than that.

Much, much worse.

My family was gathered together in a circle. I noticed that my Jolteon sibling was not in it.

As a drew closer, I realized that the Jolteon was in the middle of the circle. He was covered in bright red blood.

He wasn't breathing.

He was dead.

"Oops… I overshot that one", said a male voice.

The humans.

We were still under attack!

We had no time to mourn the death of our fallen family member. We all took off running again. I realized that Umbreoniss and I were the only ones who had not been hit.

Suddenly, a bunch of strange spheres rained down toward us. I strained to remember what they were called.

"What were they", I thought. "That's it! Poke Balls! These are a different kind, though… Great Balls!"

One of the blue and white Great Balls hit my Mom.

"No", she cried. The rest of us watched in dismay as our Flareon mother dissolved into white light and disappeared into the ball.

We tried to run, but it was no use. Every one of us was captured and sucked up into the human aircraft. Well, all of us except Umbreoniss and I. We ran blindly through the woods, hoping to find a safe place to hide before we would be hit by one of the exploding balls they fired at us.

Before too long we arrived at the edge of a cliff.

"You have nowhere to run", the woman said triumphantly. "You two belong to us now."

Umbreoniss looked out below the cliff. "What a lovely view", she said happily.

I shook my head in disbelief. "I can't believe you, Umbreoniss! One of our siblings is dead, the rest of our family has been captured, and we're going to end either way, and you're talking about the view!" I was so extremely angry that I almost pushed her off the cliff.

I was wrong, however. Okay, so it was wrong to have homicidal thoughts about my own sister, especially since she was just trying to cheer me up, but that's irrelevant. I was wrong about ending up dead or captured.

"I'll catch them now", said the man greedily. The next several events happened in a blur.

The man pressed a button on the remote. One of those balls blasted at the cliff edge we stood on. As it shattered below my paws I heard "No! I pressed the wrong button!" before plunging down.

I was falling farther and farther. There was no doubt about it, Umbreoniss and I were done for.

Then something strange happened. Suddenly, I stopped falling. I started soaring upward. How could this happen? Looking down, I saw that Umbreoniss was still falling. I realized that I could control the direction I flew in. I dived downward, the wind whistling through my large purple ears. "This can't happen," I thought. "Espeon just can't fly. This must all be a dream."

I grabbed Umbreoniss anyway and hauled her up to the cliff edge. "That was so neat", she said after I dropped her safely onto the ground. She jumped up and down excitedly.

"This isn't real", I said. "It's a dream. I'm sound asleep at home." I pulled out one of my claws and poked my arm with it. Pain shot through it and a small drop of blood appeared.

It really hurt. Not just the poke, but the realization of it all. One of my siblings was dead. All the other members of my family were taken by humans and might end up dead as well except one. Besides, that one was overly cheerful and downright annoying anyway. The both of us were stranded in the middle of nowhere, all alone in the world.

I realized that I could stand up and easily walk on two legs. Evolution held so many strange changes and secrets, I guessed.

I took a step towards the cliff edge.

"Why", I whispered miserably. "Why…"

A single tear fell from one of my blue eyes and slid down the light purple fur that my face was now covered in. It was all more than I could stand.

I leapt off of the cliff. Once again, I ended up flying. I sighed and flew back to where Umbreoniss was standing. "Some other time", I thought.

"Whee!" Umbreoniss said. "It's so neat how you can fly like that!"

I shrugged. "One of our siblings is dead."

"That means he's in Heaven now, playing with the legendary Pokemon! I bet they're so happy!"

Then I did something that I've never done before. I took out the claws on my right paw and struck Umbreoniss across the face. She reeled backwards a bit, but other than that she didn't seem to be effected by the blow at all.

"Umbreoniss", I said angrily, "You don't understand. There is no Heaven. Legendary Pokemon are just like us except stronger. Our brother is gone out of existence forever!"

I turned away sharply. "We have no where to go. What to we do?"

Umbreoniss was silent for a moment, and then she said "Find them! We can rescue them from the humans!"

I sighed and shook my head. "That won't work. Even if we did find them, which we won't, we'd end up captured or killed."

"We can't just sit around and do nothing. We have to try!"

As much as I hated to admit it, Umbreoniss was right. I sighed and turned to face her.

"Alright", I said. "I'll go."

Umbreoniss smiled and started jumping up and down. "Whee! Whee! An adventure! Yay!" She got up and started walking on two legs. "I can do it too! Hooray!"

I started off in the direction the human aircraft had came from, or at least where I thought it had came from. Umbreoniss followed, jumping and cheering.


	3. Chapter 3: A Scyther's Last Kill

I sighed as I walked slowly through the woods. Umbreoniss was still jumping and cheering, as well as singing a redundant song that was really getting on my nerves. Not to mention she had a horrible singing voice.

"Pikachu uses Thundershock!" she sang. "Pikachu uses Thundershock! Oh, Pikachu uses Thundershock! Thundershock is what Pikachu uses!"

That was how the entire song went, over and over.

Suddenly, I heard a voice from under the ground.

"Who's that?" she asked, jumping up and down. A trail of upturned earth appeared and made its way toward us. "A Diglett", I thought. The trail stopped and a yellow-gold head popped out. It was not a Diglett. It was a Sandslash

His eyes fell upon me. "Why hello there, sweetie! Very nice to meet you", he said cheerfully.

"Great", I thought. "Some love struck idiot that actually finds me attractive. He must be really desperate."

The Sandslash pulled himself out of the hole. "I'm Sando", he said gleefully. "What are the names of the two beauties in front of me?"

"I'm Umbreoniss!" Umbreoniss said, jumping about three feet into the air.

"Uh, I'm Espeonfree", I said emotionlessly.

"Espeonfree", Sando said. "A name as beautiful and wonderful as yourself!"

I rolled my eyes. "Could you help us?" I asked. I absolutely hated having to ask him, but there was no one else around.

"Anything for you, dear! What's the trouble?"

"Our family was taken by some humans in a large gray aircraft. Do you know how we could find them?"

Sando thought for a moment. "Well, you could give the wise old Fearow a visit. He's the oldest and wisest Pokemon for miles. He watches the skies all day long, so he probably saw it."

I was doubtful. "Where do we find this Fearow?"

"I'll take you there, honey."

I sighed. "Great", I thought. "Now I have to go on a journey with him." Well, I had no other choice. I had to go with him or my family was done for.

"Fine", I said finally, "I'll go."

"Yay!" Umbreoniss yelled happily. "This is sort of like a scavenger hunt!"

"Yeah!" Sando said excitedly. "Let's go!" He led the way through the thick forest. After a while of walking, we finally came to a clearing.

"Let's rest here", Sando said, sitting in the soft grass. Umbreoniss and I sat down as well. It was a lovely day. The sun was shining... what? It was Mom! There was no doubt about it. My Flareon mother was walking right toward me, her long orange ear rustling in the breeze. Dad was behind her! In fact, all of them were, even my Jolteon sibling! He was alive after all. They walked up to me, and Mom placed one of her soft orange paws on my shoulder. She began to speak.

"DIE!!!"

I woke up. It had just been a dream. They weren't back after all.

However, there was no time to think about that. Hundreds of Scyther were swarming around the clearing, attacking us!

I closed my eyes. "Please take me", I thought. "I can't stand the misery of life anymore. Besides… I deserve to die."

Opening my eyes, I saw a Scyther flying toward me with its Scythes raised. I glanced down and braced for the impact, but none came. Looking up I saw that Sando was protecting me. "What an idiot", I thought. "Well, if he wants to go on a suicide mission, let him."

The Scyther aimed a fatal Slash at Sando. Sando raised his claws and countered with a Slash of his own. It didn't do any damage to the Scyther, but it protected Sando.

"Go!" he yelled. "Take Umbreoniss! I'll hold them off!"

I hated having to follow directions from him, but I did anyway. I grabbed Umbreoniss – who was saying "pretty Scyther!" – and ran into the woods. We found a spot where we could watch Sando without being noticed by the Scyther.

He jumped all around fearlessly, putting up his sharp claws. "What are you afraid of, little girl?" he asked the nearest Scyther. The Scyther did not take insults lightly. He raised a scythe in anger and charged at Sando. As annoying as the Sandslash was, I could hardly bear to watch.

Clank.

Sando had rolled up into a spiky ball. I should've known he was going to do that. The Scyther growled in aggravation and knocked Sando a sharp blow. He rolled a distance away and hit a tree stump, unconscious but alive.

I turned around and found myself face to face with a different Scyther.

"Why hello there, young misses. You'll be joining me for dinner tonight." He smiled menacingly.

"Ooh!" Umbreoniss said happily, "Will there be berries?"

"Not quite", the Scyther said. He continued to smile, lifting one of his deadly sharp scythes and placing it right next to my neck. "Before I kill you", he continued, "I'd like to say this. Not all Scyther are killing machines. The ones that are have to be that way to survive in this harsh world." He shuddered a bit, then glanced down. "I used to be a good, loyal Pokemon. Then things starting getting really bad, and I killed my trainer." He sighed and started staring mournfully at the sky.

I was surprised with what he did next, and I really never thought that a Scyther of all Pokemon would d o such a thing.

I heard him whisper, barely audibly, "I'm sorry, mother." With that, he raised one of his deadly scythes and slashed his own neck.

He fell over, blood pouring from his wound and onto the soft green grass, then lay still.

I simply stood there and stared at the Scyther carcass. Even Umbreoniss didn't have anything to say.

The other Scyther had left by now, and Sando was still curled up into a ball by the tree stump. He came to, groaning as he uncurled himself. Umbreoniss and I walked up to him.

"Hey, lovely ladies", he said, "what did you think of that?"

I rolled my eyes. "Just take us to the Fearow."

"Anything for you, my sweet", he replied, leading us through the woods again.


	4. Chapter 4: Riddle of Misery

We finally got through the woods. By now the sun was setting and all of us were rather tired.

"Let's spend the night here", Sando said. He dived into the earth at full force. In no time there was a hole large enough for all of us to sleep in. All of us climbed inside.

"Ooh, this is just like a campout!" Umbreoniss exclaimed happily.

"Hey, would you two like a little something to eat?" Sando asked. Umbreoniss started jumping up and down, almost bumping her head on the hole's ceiling. Sando ran out of the hole and returned a few minutes later with an armful of fresh berries. Sando and Umbreoniss sat and attacked the pile while I climbed out of the hole. I felt to miserable to eat.

The sun was slowly setting on the horizon, and the last rays of golden light poured dimly over the landscape. The diminishing light reminded me of my diminishing hope and happiness. Finally, the sun disappeared completely as the stars appeared in the night sky. Hoot-hoot and Noctowl were waking up and going about their nightly business. I started to stand, but began to float instead.

I gasped. This again? I floated a few feet in the air, and then took off soaring. It was amazing. The stars flashed by in a blur as I sped through the night. I soared above a group of flying Hoot-hoot.. In the distance, I saw a small pink blur, but it Teleported away after a few seconds. Could it be…

However, I had no time to wonder what it could be. I stopped flying and started plummeting down to earth. "This must really be it," I thought, closing my eyes tightly.

Then I stopped. I felt large talons close around me. Opening my eyes, I saw that I had been rescued by a large old Fearow.

"Um," I asked awkwardly, "Are you the wise old Fearow?"

"Why yes, young one", the Fearow replied. "Although you may call me Ripbeak. I've been expecting you."

"You have?" I asked, genuinely confused.

Ripbeak flapped his large brown wings. "Not you exactly, but whatever Eevee evolution that happens to fly by."

"I don't get it. How can I fly?"

"I'll explain that shortly. First, let's get your sister."

"How did you know she's here?"

"I can see things for miles around. I don't just watch the skies, like most Pokemon think. Oh, here we are now."

Ripbeak landed next to the hole, placing me down gently. "Umbreoniss, come here", I called. Umbreoniss jumped out of the hole.

"Who's the birdie?" Umbreoniss asked. Sando climbed out of the hole after her.

"Wow, Sando said. "It's the great wise Fearow."

Ripbeak nodded. "Did you help these girls get here?" he asked.

"Yes, I sure did."

"Well, I need to get back to my nest, seeing as my little granddaughter is back there alone. I'll Fly you three there."

Sando backed away in fear. "Did you say Fly? Well… uh… I'd rather not. Well, it was a pleasure meeting you two, Espeonfree and Umbreoniss. Goodbye, sweeties!" With that, the Sandslash dived into the ground.

"Alright, you two", Ripbeak said, "Climb onto my back and I will take you."

Umbreoniss and I climbed onto the great Fearow's back. He flapped his huge wings sharply, propelling him into the night sky. The full moon cast an eerie glow on everything.

"Whee!" Umbreoniss cheered. "It's so much fun to Fly!"

I, on the other hand, felt sure that something would go wrong. We could easily fall, or maybe this Fearow wasn't who he claimed to be and planned on eating us. I kept silent anyway. If he was the great wise Fearow, he might not help if he knew I was skeptical of him.

After a while Ripbeak landed next to a huge nest, probably as wide as a very tall tree. Umbreoniss and I climbed off of him. I looked up at the large nest. Looking closer, I saw something move slightly. Then a small bird Pokemon popped out of the nest, a Spearow. However, its coloring was off – its wings were gold instead of red.

"A shiny!" Umbreoniss cried happily. "Pretty!"

"This is my little granddaughter", Ripbeak said. "She was born with shiny colors."

The Spearow swooped down from the nest and landed on the ground near us. "Yes, that's me. Don't pay attention to that old guy, he acts like I'm two even though I'm twelve."

"I'm twelve too!" Umbreoniss said. "Neat! And so is my sister here!" she gestured to me.

Ripbeak turned to Umbreoniss and I. "I am about to pass on", he said. " I need both of you to take care of her until she evolves. In return I will explain everything I can and she will accompany you on your quest."

"Hello, I'm standing right here", the golden-winged Spearow said rudely. "They're both the same age as me, so why do they have to take care of me?"

Ripbeak turned to her. "Yes, but you have not yet reached the level of evolution."

The Spearow rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"Fine", I said, "But I still don't know why I can Fly."

"There's a riddle", Ripbeak said, "That was written by Celebi. As you know, Celebi has the power to travel through time, and Dialga manages it. Celebi traveled to the future and saw horror beyond recognition."

"It went to Dialga, and the two of them decided to try to save the future. The legendaries, believe it or not, do not have total control over the universe. Well, Arceus does, but if it tried to do anything to help its unlimited power could disrupt or even destroy the world."

"Celebi, however, had a dream from Arceus telling it to carve a riddle into a stone tablet. This riddle could help save the world. Arceus also told Celebi to go to Lugia."

My head was spinning. "How could all this be true?" I asked. "And what does it have to do with me Flying?"

"Be patient, young one. You will find out soon enough." He was becoming weaker, I could tell, but continued the story anyway. "So Celebi went to Lugia with the riddle carved in the stone. Arceus had given Lugia the power to make legends come true, although whether they succeeded depended on the participants. For example, the legend of the three orbs had came true with a human child."

"However, there was a price. To make the things in the riddle happen right, one legendary needed to die. They waited a couple years, and sure enough one did."

"Latios", I murmured.

"That's right", he said. "My granddaughter, Goldenwing, will give you a scrap of paper with the riddle on it, for it is up to you to solve it…" he coughed. "Well, I must go now." He smiled sadly. "I need to go meet Arceus."

The great bird fell over dead.

Goldenwing sighed. "Too bad, I guess. I'll go get the riddle." She flew up into the nest and disappeared from view.

I sill was confused. Was I supposed to help the world or something? The thought was ridiculous. I just wanted to see my family again.

Goldenwing flew out of the nest with a piece of paper in her beak and motioned for me to take it, which I did. "Here", she said. "It's not much of a riddle. It's short and doesn't even rhyme. What are your names, by the way?"

"I'm Umbreoniss!" Umbreoniss said, jumping up and down again.

Goldenwing gave her a strange look. "Is she always like that?"

"You'll get used to it", I said. "I'm Espeonfree, by the way." I took a look at the paper, and then read the riddle out loud:

"One day when evolution comes

Misery will appear out of the air

One of the ones left

Might contain the power

With this power

The evil teams might be defeated

Four teams and four goals

All of which evil

Must be stopped before too long

For if not, the world will further worsen."

"I still don't know why I can Fly", I said doubtfully.

"It's in the riddle", Goldenwing replied. "One of the ones left might contain the power."

"I defiantly know this much", I said, "One day when evolution comes misery will appear out of the air." I sighed. "My sister and I had our family taken by humans in an aircraft, and one of our brothers was killed."

"Except you and me!" Umbreoniss cheered. "We were lucky!"

"Lucky?" I thought. "Yeah right."

"So you two are the ones left, and I guess Espeonfree has that power or something", Goldenwing said.

"Lucky me", I mumbled sarcastically. "Well, next it says the evil humans MIGHT be defeated with that power. That means it's fully possible that we'll fail."

"The four teams are Aqua, Magma, Rocket, and Galactic."

"How can Flying stop them?"

"Well, I've heard of a Surfing Pikachu once."

"How is that going to help?" I snapped. "That Pikachu hasn't had his family taken away and doesn't have to save the world, either!"

"Well…", Goldenwing said, "There's a map on the back of this paper leading to some human headquarters."

"Fine", I said with a sigh. "Let's go."


	5. Chapter 5: Attack and evolution

"Be careful", Goldenwing warned. "We're in Pidgeot territory now."

We had been traveling for a while now, two days in fact. A lot of rainstorms had been popping up recently. Once again the gray clouds were gathering in the sky, which matched my mood rather well. Distant thunder rumbled like a Tyrannitar's growl. A silent freezing breeze blew on the three of us, causing us to shiver slightly. The grassy plains ended and a large expanse of trees lay ahead of us.

"I hate Pidgeot", Goldenwing whispered angrily. "They think they're so great, but the Spearow and Fearow battlers can beat 'em down." Her voice rose with every word.

Some bushes to the left of us rustled slightly. "What was that?" I asked.

"Probably some nice Swablu coming to have a friendly chat with us! Yay!" Umbreoniss jumped and cheered.

"Yeah, right", said Goldenwing in an annoyed tone. "Keep your voice down."

Well, it was too late. A large cream colored bird with brown wings emerged from the bushes and yelled "Intruder alert! Intruder allerrrttt!"

Goldenwing jumped in front of Umbreoniss and I. "There's so way I'll let the Spearow and Fearow honor be destroyed!" It was like she was a whole new Pokemon, brave and honorable. "If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you get!"

The small bird Pokemon flapped her short golden wings fiercely and took off into the air. "Are you crazy?" I called out to her. She, however, was not listening. Her fighting spirit was strong as she charged into the startled group of Pidgeot that had formed above us. They certainly hadn't expected such a small creature to strike at them like that.

Then she turned around sharply in the air and began to glow. She charged into the Pideot group, hitting several and even causing a couple to fall. She had used Aerial Ace.

Several Pidgeot also tried to use Aerial Ace, but Goldenwing was so small that the confused Pidgeot ended up slamming into each other.

"That's right!" Goldenwing yelled as she zoomed back and forth between the Pidgeot easily. "Speaaarrrooowwww!"

Suddenly, she began to glow. At first I thought she was using another Aerial Ace, but she did not zoom forward. Her small flapping wings soon became big, and the rest of her grew along with them. The glow faded, and in her place was a large golden Fearow. She had evolved.

She tried out the Fearow battle cry. "Feaaarrrrowww!" Then she flapped her mighty golden wings until they whipped up a small tornado, a Gust attack. The tornado slammed into the few Pidgeot that remained airborne, who shrieked as the whipping vortex carried them far away.

Goldenwing landed next to us and chuckled. "Weaklings."

I looked at Goldenwing's new form. "I guess you're going to leave now that you're evolved, huh?"

"Nah. I really like all of this adventure stuff. Let's keep going!"

"Yay!" Umbreoniss shrieked happily.

So we trudged onward. Thankfully, Goldenwing was skilled at map reading. She soared high above the trees, leading us on.


	6. Chapter 6: A Cry In the Distance

By the time we got out of the woods, rain started pouring down. I shook rainwater from my large ears in dismay. Did anything ever go right? Umbreoniss, however, was jumping around and dancing. "Yay!" she'd say every now and then. "I love rain!"

A small purple rat Pokemon jumped out of a hole not far from us. "Look, mommy, I'm a Squirtle!" the young Rattata cried, jumping and spinning around. A large brownish rat jumped out of the hole and pulled her child in.

"There's a huge storm coming!" the Raticate scolded. "I can feel it in my whiskers!"

Just then, a crack of lightning flickered through the darkening sky. "Did you see that?" I asked Umbreoniss unsurely.

"Yeah!" Umbreoniss shouted happily. How could she be so annoyingly cheerful?

"Look at me!" the Fearow that soared high above us called. "Look at how great my new long wings are!"

"You should come down!" I called up to her. "You could get struck by lightning easily!"

"Oh, it's fine! I don't see any lightning. Besides, I need to practice my Flying so I can Fly you around!" She was simply too caught up in her Flying to pay any attention to the hardening rain or the rumbles of thunder. A flash of lightning lit the sky uncomfortably close.

After a while the going became horribly rough. It was nearly impossible to see anything anymore.

"Whee, aren't those lights in the sky pretty?" Umbreoniss asked me.

"Lights in the sky?" I thought. I looked up. To my horror I saw that the sky was filled with lights indeed. Lightning flashed all around Goldenwing. "Get down from here!" I called up to her frantically. "You'll be killed!"

"No way!" Goldenwing called, barely audible above the squealing wind. "I'm having the time of my life! I live for danger like this!"

Just then, a jolt of electricity coursed through the golden bird Pokemon's veins. She certainly did look golden the way her body glowed from the massive shock. Finally, her limp form dropped heavily to the ground.

"Goldenwing!" I cried, fighting through the raging wind and rain to get to her. I finally did, gazing in horror at her almost completely charred remains. "No", I whispered. "You've..."

I noticed her chest heaving up and down. "You're alive!" I cried. I could hardly believe it. Lightning was so powerful in general, not to mention super effective on a Flying-type like her. I felt a twinge of relief. Despite everything horrible that was happening to me, something seemed to go a little right. Well, until I looked up.

Umbreoniss was gone.

"Umbreoniss!" I called.

No answer.

"Umbreoniss!" I called again, louder.

Still no answer.

"UMBREONISS!" I called a third time, but I knew it was hopeless. She was gone. Dead, most likely.

I turned back to the unconscious Fearow behind me. I had to at least get her to safety. I doubted either of us would, but I couldn't just stand there. I tried to lift her, but there was no way an Espeon could lift an 86 pound unconscious bird Pokemon.

I sat down next to her. "I give up. I'm sorry Goldenwing, Celebi, Dialga, Lugia, Arceus, my family… I failed…"

I was on a calm beach. "How did I get here?" I thought. I stood up and walked along the shoreline. The gentle waves lapped my back paws. Suddenly, a small green blur zipped past me. It was Celebi.

"Celebi!" I called to it. "Where are you going? Help me!"

"You need to help yourself!" the Pokemon snapped, stopping and looking at me angrily. "And your family! And the world! Only cowards give up. Now get going!"

The harsh drops of rain pelted me as I came to. It was a dream, but it had seemed so real. Did Celebi somehow actually talk with me?

"Goldenwing…" I whispered, trying to see through the rough wind and rain. Suddenly, I heard a faint cry in the distance that sounded oddly familiar. I didn't want to leave Goldenwing in that state, but I really needed someone's help.

I slowly made my way through the storm toward the sound. "I probably won't get to it", I thought. "Or it's just the howling wind. Or the trap of a predator Pokemon." Still, I continued on. The cry was getting louder so I knew it couldn't be the wind. It was impossible to really see anything over a few inches in front of me. Therefore, I didn't see the steep hill before I slipped and started rolling down it.

I tumbled downward in a confused heap, but I was suddenly lifted off the ground before I could hit the bottom. The wind and rain whipped my fur around wildly, my large ears flapping in the roaring wind. Finally I could no longer stay airborne and dropped straight down on some soft black thing.

"Probably a Houndoom ready to attack", I thought. I squinted through the beating wind and rain. It, however was not.

It was Umbreoniss.

Umbreoniss was crying.


	7. Chapter 7: The Real Umbreoniss

"Umbreoniss?" I uttered in disbelief. "It was you… who was… crying?" It seemed to me that it was impossible for that Umbreon to be anything except happy.

Umbreoniss smiled faintly. "Espeonfree… I'm so sorry… for lying to you all this time…"

She was silenced by a particularly nasty gust of wind. I squinted at her though the barrage of rain. After it passed, she said "where's Goldenwing?"

"Back there somewhere", I replied sadly. "Probably dead by now."

"I'm sure she'll be fine if we can just get to her."

"How? I'm not even sure where she is, not to mention this storm makes it impossible to see."

"I'm sure we'll figure out something."

I sighed. She may have been acting slightly more normal, but she was still annoyingly optimistic.

"Celebii…" a voice rang out in the distance.

"What was that?" I asked.

"What?" Umbreoniss replied. "I didn't hear a thing."

"Lebiiiii!!!!"

It was absolute gibberish, not even correct Pokemon speech. Some sort of chant, perhaps. Then I was floating.

"Here's our chance!" Umbreoniss said in relief. She grabbed a nearby vine that had been ripped down by the wind and tied it to one of my back legs. She tied the other end to her wrist. "Let's rescue Goldenwing!"

I could control my flight this time. I took off into the sky, fighting my way through the storm. It was even harder with Umbreoniss there, who was being whipped around by the vine that barely held her.

A very sharp gust of wind blew and snapped the vine clean in half. Umbreoniss screamed as she plunged downward into what seemed like nothingness.

Suddenly, I lost my power to Fly again and joined her.

"Something", I thought, "Something is going to stop my problems from ending. It always happens."

Well, I was right. I landed next to Umbreoniss on the long, slender back of a Dragonair.

"What did I tell you?" Umbreoniss said. "Everything is fine!"

"Fine?" I replied in disbelief. "Fine? You call our predicament 'fine'?"

Umbreoniss giggled. "You're forgetting something. Dragonair can change the weather, remember?"

The blue draconic Pokemon turned her head to face us. The small angel-like wings on either side of her head rippled in the wind. "That's right", she said. Her voice was quiet as well as soft and soothing.

The blue orb below her face began to glow white. Almost instantly, the dark clouds faded away, and the wind ceased, and the sun shined.

We spotted Goldenwing almost instantly. "Down there!" Umbreoniss said, pointing to her. "She's down there!"

The Dragonair landed gently on the ground next to the still form of Goldenwing. Umbreoniss and me got off and walked over to where she lay. She wasn't breathing.

"Goldenwing", Umbreoniss said. "Come on. Get up. It's alright now. There's a Dragonair here to help us. Come on!"

Umbreoniss knew as well as I that it was hopeless. Goldenwing was dead.

Umbreoniss was speechless. "I thought… we would…"

A sudden thought sprang to my mind. "It's my fault", I thought. "My fault… I should just die…"

The Dragonair slithered to Goldenwing's side. "I should have gotten here ealier", the Dragonair said. "I'm afraid there's nothing we can do now."

The thought continued to shoot through my mind. "It was your fault, Espeonfree… you deserve to die…"

The sunlight glinted off of the remains of the dead Fearow's golden feathers.

"At least the map is safe", Umbreoniss said. Amazingly, she was right. Lying next to Goldenwing's carcass was the map, soggy but otherwise safe. Umbreoniss picked it up.

I could care less. "Our friend is dead and you're talking about some old map!"

"Well," she said, "It could've been worse. We could not know where we're going, or we could be dead!"

I could scarcely believe what I was hearing. Goldenwing was dead! Besides that, it was all my fault…

"Get on", the Dragonair said calmly. "I can Fly you to your family."

"We're almost there!" Umbreoniss said happily. "Yes!"

Somehow I doubted it, but I climbed back onto the Dragon-type Pokemon's soft blue body alongside my sister anyway.

"I'm Dragon, by the way", said the Dragonair. "Not very original, I know."

Dragon continued to soar though the sky, but I didn't feel like this was going to end anytime soon.

"So, Espeonfree, what I wanted to tell you", Umbreoniss said. "You see… if you couldn't tell already, I'm not really as optimistic as I let on. I'm optimistic, but… I was being someone I'm not by taking it too far. I'm sorry."

Well, it certainly made sense. I didn't think someone like her could be real.

Suddenly, some flapping wings fluttered by us, followed by voices.


	8. Chapter 8: Stardust

"Come on, baby, you're mine! Give it up already!" A male voice.

"No! I'd sooner die than mate with you!" a female voice.

"What the heck is going on?" I thought.

Dragon stopped. Fluttering not three feet from us were two Butterfree, a male and a female.

"I'm not going with you!" the female said. "The sexist laws of your clan are disgusting, and I refuse to abide by them."

"You have no choice, honey" the male replied.

The male roughly Tackled the female. "I'll be back", he said coolly. "I'll be back with some friends. They'll see that you comply." With that, he flew off.

The remaining Butterfree sighed and turned to us. "Oh, hello", she said sadly.

"What's wrong?" Umbreoniss asked. "I'm sure we can help."

"I doubt it", she said. "Although I'd love to tell you if you don't mind."

"Sure", Dragon said in her quiet voice. "I'm always willing to help another Pokemon."

"Well", the Butterfree started, "My name is Stardust. I come from a clan of Caterpie, Metapod and Butterfree not too far from here. In it, the males are not only extremely dominant, but sexist as well. In fact, they firmly believe that females are nothing more than mating tools. That is all life is to them… mating."  
"When a female Butterfree is old enough in our clan to reproduce, she is forced to fly across the ocean with a male. The male chooses, and the female has no say at all."  
"When Butterfree fly across the ocean and mate, the both die after the eggs are laid. When they hatch, they have to fend for themselves until a non-mating male Butterfree from are clan – which there are very few – come to pick them up. Often all of the Caterpie die before they could get picked up."  
"I, however, wish to live a life as any other Pokemon is free to. I need to get away from here, but I don't know where to go."

"Wow", I said. "Apparently everyone's life is miserable here. Welcome to the club."

"What she means is that we'd be glad to take you to safety", Umbreoniss said quickly.

"Thank you so much", Stardust said gratefully. "I'm afraid those males will be looking for me, though, and they're pretty rough. If they saw you helping me they'll attack you to."

"It's fine", Dragon said. "No offense, but Butterfree aren't exactly the strongest Pokemon there are."

"We're headed somewhere anyway", Umbreoniss said.

The four of us flew onward. While we were traveling, Umbreoniss and I passed the time by telling Stardust everything that had happened up to that point.

"Wow, that an ordeal", Stardust said. "Perhaps I'll try to help. I don't see any meaning in my worthless life."

"Don't let those idiots get to you", Umbreoniss said.

"They make fun of me, too, mainly because my boyfriend is a Typhlosion." She stopped suddenly. "Oh, could we please go find him?"

"Where would he be?" Dragon asked.

Before she could answer, odd music filled the air. The flapping of many wings.

"I'm back, honey!"

"Oh, no…" Stardust said. "I didn't think they'd catch up with us so soon!"

"Land on me", Dragon said. Stardust did so.

Suddenly Dragon zoomed through the sky, faster than an Arcanine using Extremespeed. She flew so fast that I had to cling to the Dragonair's warm blue body to avoid falling off. My ears were blown flat against my head.

I stole a quick glance backward. Those male Butterfree were behind, but not too far behind. Those guys could certainly be fast when properly motivated.

Stardust having such small… hands, or whatever they were, couldn't hang on very well. She slipped, the air catching her wings and back she went. Dragon stopped suddenly, too suddenly, so Umbreoniss crashed into me and both of us were thrown over the Dragonair's head into open air.

We dropped like stones. Just when I thought I'd never Fly again, I stopped in midair. Umbreoniss grabbed my tail. I couldn't move. It was as if my Flying power was stronger before, but weaker now. Very odd.

So, the two of us simply hung there.

"Well, Stardust is safe", Umbreoniss said.

Looking down, I saw that she was right. Stardust was down there with a Typhlosion next to her. Stardust quickly fluttered up next to us.

"Dragon's coming to get you", she said. "Here she comes now."

Dragon was flying toward slowly, breathing heavily. She was obviously exhausted.

The Butterfree, however, were not. They zipped and slammed into poor Dragon. One of them, probably the one that wanted Stardust, launched a Psychic attack.

The Butterfree Psychic grip caused the Dragonair to slam into the ground. Dragon groaned in agony. The butterfly Pokemon brought her up and slammed her into the ground again. She groaned in pain.

In a normal, civil Pokemon match, only one Butterfree would be in the battle and he wouldn't attack a Pokemon that was in no condition to fight. This, however, was no civil Pokemon match. The Butterfree all took turns using Psychic on the poor Dragonair, slamming her into various things. This was torture.

Finally they grew bored of this and dropped the barely alive Dragonair to the ground. Then they all launched a Poisonpowder on her. Then they turned to us.

This whole time we had been hanging there unable to do anything. The Butterfree were also too high up for the Typhlosion's Fire-type attacks to reach.

Ever since this whole miserable thing happened, I thought it would be nice to die. However, I wanted it to be a quick and painless as possible. Well, it looked like that wasn't going to happen.

"I want the Espeon!" cried one. "I think she'd be the most fun to torture."

"I want the Umbreon!" cried another. "I think she'd be the most fun to kill."

"You're not touching either!" cried Stardust, flying in front of us.

"That's right!" yelled the Typhlosion from below, even though he was unable to do anything at the moment.

The Butterfree that wanted Stardust flew in front, facing her. "A girl challenge me, mighty Zen the male? Our children will soon be born! The other three will be tortured to death!"

The group flew above us and started sprinkling green powder from their wings. A Sleep Powder attack. I quickly held my breath, but I had to breathe eventually. The last thing I heard before drifting off to sleep was Umbreoniss' voice saying "Well, I was getting tired of hanging on anyway."


End file.
